Tuesday, August 12, 2008

What? Members of Congress with financial ties to oil business? Really?And Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., who represents the 8th District, leads the top-25 list of those with holdings in leading oil companies?Read about it here. The Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group for disclosure by government, used personal financial reporting databases to make a list of representatives in Congress with connections to oil. Some have a little money tied to oil. Others, such as Rep. Hayes, have a lot.So, guess who stands to gain if energy policy and reforms favor oil, and consumpion? Lawmakers with financial ties do.

How can Washington enact responsible long-term energy policy changes – ones that include conservation, alternative energy sources and mass transit – with those kinds of connections?

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In addition to putting money in his own pocket with his votes, Robin Hayes further insults us with sending out mailings at taxpayer expense pretending he wants the price of gas to go down. It is maddening!

This is the same Hayes who has millions invested in companies with defense contracts, meaning he makes more money the longer we stay in Iraq. So he voted against a bill that would have brought more soldiers home sooner.This is the same Hayes that promised to vote against CAFTA to help protect NC jobs then flipped at the last minute under pressure from Bush.This is the same Hayes that votes against expanding Children's Health Insurance coverage out of fear of hurting the tobacco industry (guess how much tobacco stock he owns - about $5 million by some reports). It is sad that we, the working people of North Carolina, are no longer shocked when we see the staggering wealth Hayes has continued to amass while we struggle to get by.

What is so tragic about Hayes is that the money used to buy those Exxon stocks was derived from selling off Cannon Mills. At one point, Robin was rich AND his interests were in fact aligned with the people in the Eighth District. It isn't the wealth, it is the interests.

I find it hard to believe this is true. If Hayes really owned millions of dollars in oil stocks, he's too honorable a man to vote on these bills that have raised the price of gasoline and made him profits. He would certainly recuse himself and just not vote. Otherwise, I'm sure he would be hauled before the ethics committee. I mean even crooks like Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney and Tom DeLay wouldn't get away with stuff like this. You must have him mixed up with someone else. You may disagree with Robin Hayes' reactionary policies but do you really mean to call him a crook?

I am sickened that Hayes is double dipping, and more, at the cost of his own constituents. "Down w/Tyranny", you can do your own search and see what he has invested in oil. I know it is hard to believe from a man we see around town as a good 'ol boy, but whether he intentionally meant to make money at our expense initially, he certainly is doing that now and is being more wealthy with every $4 a gallon drop we put into our cars!I am on his mailing list and he has sent me more than 5 emails that ask if I am "frustrated with energy prices." Is he so out of touch with regular folk that he even has to ask that question?I am tired of getting taxpayer expensed mailings from him as well that seem to just pat him on the back. (Got one yesterday that said he had a check mark for widening I-85 in Cabarrus County...maybe his Washington spokesperson needs to come down a take a look...we sit out there in traffic using up our expensive fuel waiting in 2 lanes all through Cabarrus!)I have travelled all over the state in the last year, and gas prices in his hometown and surrounding areas are the most expensive in the state, sometimes by as much as a quarter a gallon!I'm not going to resort to name calling, but at the very least, he needs to exclude himself from votes on energy policy, and anything else in which he has a financially vested interest.If he was honorable when he first left for DC, I think it may be time for us to consider that things change. We need to recognize a wolf in good 'ol boy sheep clothing before we get completely sheared!

Everyone needs to check thier 401K, mutual funds and any other retirement funds to see if you have any BIG OIL stocks in them. If so, then you are just as guilty as anyone else for the high price of gas and we can say that you have "money ties to BIG OIL."

No, it's not different. Dividends are dividends, no matter much you receive.

In response to Jed1013 and his comments that we should all check our investments for ties to "big oil", I have to point out the obvious difference between Hayes and the rest of us. Many North Carolinians are fortunate enough to have money invested in oil and they are enjoying the dividends, but these lucky folks have only one way in which they can directly effect how our government treats the oil companies. They must vote for Robin Hayes and other public officials who will vote in favor of protecting the oil giants at the expense of the rest of us.I however have no investments, no health insurance, and no savings so I am looking forward to voting for Larry Kissell in hopes that we will have at least one more elected official looking out for the rest of us.

No Jed,I just want the chance to have a representative who understands that we need better education and more promising job opportunities here in this area. I do believe health care should be right in a country as wealthy as the US. Larry Kissell has worked in mills and taught in public schools so he undoubtedly has seen the effects of poverty and lack of good health care first hand.Many smart, hard-working people in our district are unemployed or underemployed and I hope that does improve soon. I will vote for Larry Kissell in an effort to improve the quality of life for the majority of people in this district.

Please tell me what Larry Kissell is going to do to improve education or how he will provide better job oppertunities in this area. What is his plan? Or is he just saying that he will do these things?

I don't believe that health insurance should be a right. Health insurance is a contract between the insurer and the insuree, where the insurer takes on the risk of the insuree for a specified cost.

Yes, health care cost are high, but so is car care and pet care and home maintence and child care and so on. Should tax payers be forced to provide insurance for these things for everyone as well?

As far as the hard working unemployeed people.

Please forgive me for being a little sceptical, but I have been tring to hire people for 2 month. They either don't show up for the interview or they can't pass a background check or drug screen or just don't want to do the kind of work we do.

Larry Kissell has a plan and priorities that he outlines well. See www.larrykissell.com to read the details. As for your rebuttal to my statements on health care policies in the US, let's review what I said.I believe HEALTH CARE should be a right of living in an industrialized, wealthy nation. I didn't mention health insurance. If we cut out the middleman and reduce waste and corruption then affordable basic health care could easily be provided to all citizens regardless of income. Wealthy people could still choose to purchase additional insurance coverage.Your comparisons to car and pet insurance are not germane because choosing to have cars or pets is a luxury not a necessity. I don’t know what line of work you are in (I’m guessing it is not one dependent on writing and spelling skills) but I know many reliable, dependable, drug-free unemployed people.

Sorry, I didn't see the plan that is so well outlined. All I saw, were statements about what he thinks is the problem. He does not give any detailed plans on how to fix anything.

If you want free or affordable Health Care then there is always the Health Department. They provide services for everyone.

As far as my line of work. It's notnot one dependent on writing and spelling skills. But I have health insurance that I pay for and 401K that I pay for. I own a house, have 2 cars and I'm paying to put a child through college and when that one finishes I have another starting. It's called taking care of my responseabilties and not thinking someone owes me something.

I have never asked anyone to pay or even help pay my way.(that includes writing and spelling)

For your friends, I do hope that they all find jobs soon.(and I do really do)

Pickens and Pelosi share the same talking points downplaying the need to drill and open up more access to American oil.

Naturally, the Pickens Big Wind plan is proudly endorsed by Do-Nothing Pelosi's friends at the obstructionist Sierra Club. Through another company, Mesa Power, Pickens has committed upward of $12 billion in wind farms on the Texas panhandle.

As reported on dontgomovement.com, Speaker Pelosi bought between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in Pickens' CLNE Corp. in May 2007 on the day of the initial public offering:

"She, and other investors, stand to gain a substantial return on their investment if gasoline prices stay high, and municipal, state and even the Federal governments start using natural gas as their primary fuel source. If gasoline prices fall? Alternative fuels and the cost to convert fleets over to them become less and less attractive."

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The Observer's editorial board cares deeply about Charlotte and the Carolinas, and has a problem with public officials who have forgotten that they report to citizens. Editorial page editor Taylor Batten and associate editors Peter St. Onge and Eric Frazier tackle politics and public policy issues locally, across the state and nation. Kevin Siers tackles those issues too in cartoons. Read their columns and biographical information on the CharlotteObserver.com Opinion page.